Late charge lifts Snowbirds

October 17, 2001|By Mike Dunn

Earlier in the game, that play would have netted five or six yards; now, with the scrappy but undermanned Joburg defense wearing down from the pace of the game and the physical pounding in the trenches, it was a different story. Korson weaved outside behind the key block of tight end Dominic Borowiak and he was off to the races.

Joburg senior safety A.J. Sodt, whose heart is bigger than his body, somehow ran Korson down to save a touchdown.

But on the very next play - the first play of the fourth quarter - St. Mary senior QB C.J. Krepps lofted a perfect pass to Adam Kerfoot in the end zone to complete a 19-yard scoring play. After Pat Roach booted the point after, the Snowbirds led 22-8 and the complexion of the game was changed.

Joburg was forced out of its comfort zone after that. Eschewing the slash-and-bash, grind-it-out running game that is their fort, the Cardinals went to the air to try and strike back quickly.

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St. Mary's rugged defensive line, fueled by the penetration of Bill "Moose" Mason and Bulldog Brian Weston, hurried and harrassed Joburg QB Kip Sundberg on play after play in the fourth quarter. The pressure eventually led to an interception which led to St. Mary's final touchdown.

St. Mary senior cornerback David Smith picked off an errant Sundberg aerial in the flats and sped down the sidelines 30 yards to close out the scoring and seal the Snowbird triumph.

"Defense won the game for us," SMH head coach Rod Bragg said emphatically. "Defense wins championships. We had to rely on our defense tonight and they came through for us big time with two touchdowns and that big stop at the goal line just before halftime."

There were lots of big plays and changes of momentum in the first half of the game. It was Korson's long run on the last play of the third quarter, though, that proved to be the turning point in the contest.

"It was just a dive play," said Korson, who also led an inspired effort by the St. Mary defense with 17 tackles from his inside linebacker post. "At halftime, the coaches told us that the dive play would break open if we turned it outside. I took the handoff from C.J., bounced it outside and followed the block of the tight end (Borowiak). There was lots of room to run."

Krepps then took advantage of his team's field position when he lofted a pass down the left sidelines to the streaking Kerfoot, who made a nice reception in the end zone despite good coverage by Joburg cornerback Dave Dipzinski.

Joburg head coach Fred Davis was smarting from the defeat, but was typically gracious.

"St. Mary's has a very good football team," Davis said. "We knew coming in what we had to do. But we're young this year with a lot of inexperience.

"We made some mistakes that cost us, but we played hard and I'm very proud of our kids."

What hurt Joburg the most was not being able to convert on fourth down inside St. Mary's 10-yard line in the final minute of the first half.

The score was 15-8 in the Snowbirds' favor at that point. A touchdown would have given Joburg a chance to tie or take the lead, and it would have given the host Cardinals a lot of momentum to bring into the third quarter.

A fumble recovery by Sundberg and subsequent return gave the Cardinals excellent field position at the 23-yard line with time running down. On first down, fullback Paul Milbocker bashed off-tackle for 10 yards to the 13.

Three running plays then brought the ball to the 6. On fourth-and-three from there, Sundberg faked into the line and dashed outside to his left. St. Mary safety Andrew Dobrzelewski smelled out the play, however, and came over to knock Sundberg out of bounds just a foot short of the first down.

"If we get the first down there and score, it's a whole different game," Davis said. "Instead, they stop us half a yard short. Before that, they block the punt and score to go ahead of us. St. Mary's made the plays they had to make and we didn't. That's the bottom line."

Joburg scored first on its opening drive after Sundberg fooled everyone in the stadium when he accepted the snap on a fake punt and dashed 43 yards to the 2-yard line. Sundberg scored on the next play and Sodt plowed over for the two-point conversion to give the Cardinals a quick 8-0 advantage.

"Fred had his kids ready to play," Bragg said later, shaking his head. "They came hard at us on every single play of the game."

St. Mary tied the score on Korson's 7-yard run later in the opening period. Korson's run up the middle, sprung by the blocks of Eric Harding and Mason on the left side of the line, capped a short 36-yard drive and came after strong safety Adam Kerfoot's fumble recovery.The defense of both teams dictated play in the second and third quarters. Joburg's physical defensive front wall, led by the play of seniors Chris Krovchuck, Lenny Dipzinski and Skip Berry, held St. Mary's vaunted ground game in check and put pressure on Krepps every time he went back into the pocket.

On the other side of the ball, St. Mary linebackers Korson and Matt Tholl were all over the field. The pair finished with a combined total of 32 tackles.

From his defensive end post, Nate Slezak put St. Mary ahead on the scoreboard with his blocked punt late in the first half. Slezak deflected the ball into the end zone and Korson fell on it for the St. Mary score. Roach's PAT gave the Snowbirds a 15-8 lead with 3:42 remaining until halftime.

Neither team generated more than 200 yards in total offense. Korson finished with 106 yards in 11 carries for the Snowbirds, and Sundberg ran for 85 yards in seven attempts.

Sodt had an interception for Joburg and Sundberg had a fumble recovery. Mason had a QB sack for St. Mary to go with his nine tackles and Weston had eight tackles.